Decades' worth for local workers who never use their sick days

Northeast Indiana has dozens of workers who show up day after day and rarely – if ever – take a sick day. When they're scheduled for work, well … that's what they do.
Flint & Walling Inc., which manufactures water pumps in Kendallville, came up with a list of 21 employees in its plant who have perfect attendance for periods ranging from one to four years. The company employs about 135, including office staff.
Production employees do not have paid sick days. If they miss work, the time is counted against their attendance under a point system, said Dick Conrad, the company's human resources manager. Conrad believes "point" or similar systems are common among manufacturers.
But the lack of paid sick days, he said, doesn't make it difficult to find workers. Most Flint & Walling job openings – unless specific skills are required – are filled based on word-of-mouth referrals.

Firefighter's new organs working; bills mounting

Three were awaiting single organ transplants. The fourth, Josh Lash, a volunteer firefighter from Kendallville, was awaiting what is called a multivisceral transplant. Essentially, most of the organs in his torso would be replaced at once.
If the organs from a donor that had just arrived weren't suitable for Lash, the other three would get transplants.
For Lash, though, who has been described by his mother as a guy with a lot of luck, all bad, the news was good for once. On Aug. 16, Lash underwent the first of two massive surgeries that gave him a new small intestine, stomach, liver, pancreas and kidney.

Noble County ISTEP scores, from A to F

Following are rankings given to northeast Indiana schools under the state's accountability law, Public Law 221. Schools are placed into categories based on their performance and improvement on the state's ISTEP+ exam and whether they meet the federal accountability law, No Child Left Behind.
St. Mary's School, Avilla, scored an A. East Noble High School and Middle Schools received Ds. Rome City Elementary scored an F. South Side and Wayne Center scored As. St. John Lutheran School scored an A.
For the entire list, click the headline.

Ex-lawmaker selected for gambling panel

Gov. Mitch Daniels has appointed former state lawmaker Matt Bell to the Indiana Gaming Commission.
The commission's purpose is to license and regulate riverboat gambling in Indiana and ensure compliance with applicable statutes, rules and regulations.
Bell of Avilla is the executive director of the Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana. Prior to that, he represented portions of Allen, Noble and Whitley counties in the Indiana House from 2005 through 2010.

Noble County legal notices

Noble County Council's next meeting agenda

Noble County Commissioner's next meeting agenda

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